1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for stabilizing measurement values in conducting a quantitative analysis of a specific component in a measurement sample by high-speed liquid chromatography.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the quantitative analysis of a specific component in the measurement sample, for example, glycohemoglobin in a blood sample by the high-speed liquid chromatography, a chromatogram obtained by separating hemoglobin in a separation column is affected by various analyzing conditions and tends to become unstable. For example, the retention time of each component of hemoglobin is varied by the differences in the column, the change with time of the padding material of the column, the temperature of the eluting solution at the time of measurement, the flow rate of the eluting solution, and delicate temperature changes of the column. When the retention time becomes unstable through changes in analyzing parameters, the separation rates of respective components in the chromatogram are varied, resulting in a decrease of measurement accuracy.
Therefore, conventionally in analysis by the high-speed liquid chromatography, the analysis of the measurement sample has been started after first preparing a sample for optimization and optimizing various analyzing parameters such as the adjustments of the concentration of the eluting solutions, change-over time thereof, feed rate thereof, the temperature of the constant temperature bath, and replacement of the column or the like. Furthermore, during the measurement sample analysis, the retention time of a specified component is monitored. Whenever the elution time is over the allowable range, the optimization operation on analyzing parameters as referred to above, has been effected.
However, the conventional optimization operation on the analyzing parameters is completely manual and requires repetitions by trial and error. Therefore, not only is it complicated and time-consuming but also requires a high degree of specialized knowledge and skill in high-speed liquid chromatography. Furthermore, for this reason, there has been such a problem that the analysis of the measurement sample takes a long time.